The Origins of a Free Press in Prerevolutionary ... - Web Publishing

important the newspaper was—even in the earliest years—as a medium for political
discourse.
As a driver of literary, social, and political discourse, the colonial newspapers
are thought to have had an influence beyond their actual circulation, but specific
numbers are impossible to determine. Circulation of the early Chesapeake-area
gazettes was likely to be low. Parks asserted in an early Virginia Gazette that, “these
Papers will circulate (as speedily as possible) not only all over This, but also the
Neighboring Colonies, and will probably be read by some Thousands of People
…” 46 There are no solid records on numbers printed or total readership, something
extremely difficult to calculate even with today’s newspapers and readers. The
papers were apparently popular enough to be intercepted, often not being delivered
to the proper customer. Issues as far back as a 1729 Maryland Gazette noted the
problem and announced that customers’ names would now be written on the front
page, and the papers would be henceforth sealed in a cover. The Virginia Gazette
announced a similar problem and proposed solution a few years later. 47 There were
no regular government post riders until after 1753. Thus the printer—who was
typically the postmaster as well—often hired riders to deliver the papers. 48 The
printer typically posted gazettes for public reading at the door of his shop. As a
combination post office and store, as well as a print shop, the office was heavily
traveled and posted items likely had many readers. Studying the revolutionary
changes in the diffusion of information in early America, historian Richard D.
Brown suggested that in the early eighteenth century, the political elite (the
governor, his councilors, the members of the House of Burgesses, and their friends
46 Virginia Gazette (Parks, Oct. 8, 1736), 1.
47 Maryland Gazette (Parks, July 22, 1729), 4. Virginia Gazette (Parks, July 8, 1737), 4.
48 Virginia Gazette, (Williamsburg: William Hunter, Dec. 27, 1751), 3, includes an apology
to subscribers, noting that issues are often stolen, and blames the lack of a regular post for the
problem.
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